Moments
by AV21
Summary: Collection of posteps and missing scenes from Season 10, all DV. And yes, this was posted and deleted earlier this week, but chps 1 & 2 are new drafts. Enjoy! Spoliers for Season 10, Quest 1 and beyond.
1. Five

**Author's Notes:**

(1) Sorry for the lack of separating line, but it will only pull up html format in my browser and I'm not quite clever enough to figure out the code.

(2) For the whole three of you who read this earlier in the week, yes it did get deleted, and yes, these are new drafts of Five and Four. Long story short, threw a tizzy at the computer, almost changed majors, swore to never read/write fanfic again, and that only lasted about 48 hours. Unfortunately I deleted everything off my computer, including my wips, meaning I get to start all over again. Sorry about that. But I'm back now.

(3) Just to warn you, this might happen again if I do poorly on another paper. I figure an English major should do better on papers, but apparently that's a flawed judgment on my part.

**Five** (Company of Thieves) 

The lad stood partway in front of her with his hand annoyingly close to a sidearm. Vala had obviously picked the outfit for the good Doctor, probably as his punishment for thinking she needed the protection of his proximity.

She had him well trained. Too many of the up and coming thieves these days came in with guns blazing, which made them more than likely to get shot. Vala usually went for shock and awe (both parts usually involving her cleavage,) and her boy seemed to fancy the same route. Though Borzin was willing to law 20 to one odds that Daniel Jackson didn't realize just how many women stared at him on the way in, all do to what was probably Vala's favorite new piece of clothing.

"Borzin, you slimy two-faced grease peddler. Come on, give us a hug."

Vala leapt into his arms with more camradarie than he ever expected out of her, and all to pacify the displeased member of SG-1 following her. That was odd. From what the Alliance had told him, Vala was simply contract labor for the Tau'ri, and it was Trickery 101 that you always made the situation worse than it appeared so when you fixed it you were all the more spectacular. She wasn't soaking Jackson for all he was worth, and that was cause for concern.

"And what poor loser have you conned into your company this time?"

"Oh, this is my apprentice, Seamus." Vala shot an expectant grin back at Jackson, and that was all Borzin needed to know.

"You must be learning a great deal."

"More than I'd like to."

"Actually, I only took him on as part of a bet. He's mentally disabled."

Dear goodness, there was banter. This wasn't just a mark. She wasn't simply attracted to her boss and trying to worm her way into the good graces of the Tau'ri for better pay, she actually liked this boy. There was affection in their fight, something well worn and comfortable, with nothing left to prove and bearing all the strength of something ages old.

And Jackson still had his hand on that gun.

"Don't trust her. She will sell you out for a bad lunch first chance she gets."

Jackson smiled. This sweet, naieve, Tau'ri warrior just smiled and said, "I know." Apparently Vala had pulled such a switch on him before, or maybe the smile he bore was because she hadn't. That would have to make Daniel Jackson the first man she'd never double-crossed.

Vala darling, you have no idea what you've gotten yourself into. Thieves do not develop emotional attachments to heroes. She knew better than that.

Her smile was genuine and sweet, the kind he didn't believe Vala could have after all she'd seen as she said, "He likes me, isn't that cute?" They both grinned at each other, with a strange mix of sarcasm and glee.

Jackson's hand was still on that gun, and she didn't seem to mind at all.


	2. Four

**Four**

(The Quest: Part 1)

Teal'c told her once that we only dislike that in others that which we dislike in ourselves. She found that rather sound piece of counsel easier to ignore when Teal'c's bass wasn't sounding its truth to her, but now she couldn't help but agree with him.

Adria was manipulative, with no respect for life or free will, and after a decade of witnessing life wrenched from her grasp and granted to Qetesh, there was nothing in this galaxy she prized more than choice.

There was a moment in her past when two courses laid before Vala Mal Doran, and she had picked a life much different than the hatred that fueled Adria. Self-pity and rage could only carry you so far, and they were never good colors for Vala.

Adria had invaded Vala's mind when they were trapped on that ship with her above Dakara. Back when Adria thought that her mother could be coerced into Origin. She played on Vala's fear of being trapped, and tried to drive her into one tighter than Adria could ever see.

Adria told Vala that she wasn't free. She told herself that every morning she rose and chose to be at the SGC. That she was there because she'd changed, she wanted to do something better for her life and the galaxy, but that was a lie. She belonged to a new master now, one who would cage her, keep her hidden under a mountain while the Ori wanted her honored among the stars.

Vala was lashed to him, just as she'd been to Qetesh. She wanted to rupture the event horizon and never be held again, but something bound her to that place. So long as Daniel Jackson was there she would never breath independence again.

It was a lie. Vala knew it for what it was, manipulation worthy of her mother 's younger years. It was her choice to rise there every morning, and bed down every night. Her choice to change her life and be something more than the agony the Ori used her to create.

It was a terror Vala dealt with; that she would be tamed, be domesticated, and lose that fire she loved most about herself. But that stopped being her fear a long time ago. This was her path, and this is where she wanted to be.

This was home, and she made her own fate.


	3. Three

**Author's Notes:** Quote pays hommage to Laii, my darling support who didn't realize that she talked me back into writing. Sorry for those of you offended that I borrowed a phrase, it'll make her happy, and that's the point. **Three**

(The Quest: Part 2)

That's why the IOA wanted a new SG-1. 10 years of mission reports were steeped in rebellion and for one brief, shining moment they were about to be scattered across the stars. But that beautiful plan came crashing down the moment Vala Mal Doran stepped through the Stargate.

With one breath she had Daniel Jackson hog-tied at the SGC, and from there it was only a matter of time. Teal'c came to Jackson's side the moment someone whispered he might be in a bad way, and General O'Neill had Sam on a plane before she got the chance to work up a proper worry.

They were all kin, and not those siblings that fight over Granny's pearls, they were the kind that you call to help you drag a body across the living room floor. Mitchell got to be the overachieving baby brother, and Vala was the troublemaking sister, but they were family now too.

He knew it was going to kill her, just like it was killing him to watch Jackson trading in his head for an upgrade of the drastic variety. He didn't know if it was Merlin or Jackson that brushed Vala's cheek like that, tender and slow, but he wanted to drop that man like a bag of dirt.

She cared about him, that was the danger of being SG-1, the danger of being family, and she hadn't had family in a long time; and this was no beginner's course.

He had to walk away from her after he spoke the words that would keep her put. She didn't want to cry, didn't want to admit that it was bleeding her dry to want him to live so bad she could feel it down the soul she'd forgotten she had.

That's what family did to you.


	4. Two

**Notes:** I suppose this is a bit of a moot point now, but my series **Numbers** is along the same branch of thought, only for the episodes of season ten preceeding these ones. Just thought I'd share. **Two**

(The Shroud)

"In our time together, I've really come to see in you what draws Mother's affection."

And with one phrase all of Merlin's meticulously crafted walls came down, and Daniel Jackson's soul was laid bare.

"Affecto-what?"

Merlin threw Dr. Jackson's mind back into the corner where he could be protected, but it was too late. She felt that rush of truth breath life back into his being at that thought, and it could not be undone.

"It's very important to me that we save her together."

Merlin threw up what walls he could to deceive her, make Adria believe the longing Dr. Jackson felt at Vala's name was for her child.

"Oh, of course."

He was weak for her. These young were still commandeered by emotion, a reckless trait his people long ago attempted to abandon.

He had kept Jackson away from the surface, and his tumult of feelings at bay (a task made easier by Jackson's life of self-restraint.) But still, his fire tumbled beneath the surface, threatening to loose itself and destroy them both.

Passion still plagued this child, stirred by the mention of a name, the breath of a possibility.

She accepted the lie, but Jackson wasn't there.


	5. One

**Notes:**Yes, I am fully aware this is second Shroud drabble, but come on, that episode was just so ruddy brilliany I had to two of them. Sorry if you're displeased, but I couldn't help it.

**One**

(The Shroud: Part 2)

She didn't trust him, and he didn't deserve her trust like that, not today.

It wasn't Merlin, Daniel could've stopped him, but duty took his heart. Could she see the pain in his eyes, or taste the infection in his lips?

Somehow, in that way only Vala felt him, she already knew.

Guilt lacerated his soul, but worst of all, it didn't seem to hurt her.

He didn't know she cried, went to Jack for peace and didn't stop bleeding until the agony was dull enough to breathe. Then she told SG-1 she believed in him, like she needed to.


End file.
